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Street fighting on road to Baghdad; warplanes bomb southeast to open way for possible second front
Associated Press | April 1, 2003 | ELLEN KNICKMEYER and ALEXANDRA ZAVIS

Posted on 04/01/2003 5:51:26 PM PST by HAL9000

IN SOUTH-CENTRAL IRAQ (AP) - American soldiers on the road to Baghdad fought bloody street-to-street battles with Iraqi forces loyal to Saddam Hussein while coalition aircraft bombed southeastern Iraq to open the way for a possible new front in the crucial battle for Baghdad.

South of the capital, the U.S.-led coalition pounded Iraq's Republican Guard with bombs and missiles in an effort to soften up Saddam's most loyal forces assigned to defend Baghdad. On the ground, U.S. and British soldiers fought fierce battles small groups of Saddam loyalists.

Around Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Baghdad, U.S. Army troops skirmished with Republican Guard forces early Wednesday in the coalition's first major ground battle with Saddam's best-trained troops, U.S. defense officials said.

Near Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Regiment, cleared out Iraqi mortar nests, snipers and tanks along a line several kilometers (miles) wide. Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy said they killed at least 75 Iraqis and took 44 POWs.

Marines said Iraqis fought with grenade launchers, machine guns and small arms, trying to ambush the attackers in any way they could.

"They were shooting from buildings, from dugout positions, from holes, from everything. They would jump out to shoot. They were behind buses - you name it they were there," said Cpl. Patrick Irish.

In the country's south, allied forces began delivering humanitarian aid to try to coax Iraqi civilians to abandon Saddam, and U.S. and British officers said they were seeing more cooperation from civilians.

Warplanes bombarded southern Baghdad and in southeastern Iraq, coalition aircraft bombed Iraqi forces at Kut along the Tigris River. A U.S. Marine intelligence analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the bombardment was to clear the way for ground forces, which could open the way for an eastern front in the attack on Baghdad.

Huge explosions echoed across Baghdad early Wednesday, and a plume of white smoke was seen rising from the southern end of the old palace grounds in the capital.

More explosions rocked Baghdad in the half hour following the first blast at 3 a.m., including the old palace area. The palace is the ceremonial seat of government on the west bank of the Tigris, one rarely used openly by Saddam.

In another development, U.S. troops have rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held as a prisoner of war in Iraq since she and other members of her maintenance unit were ambushed March 20, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

Lynch, 19, was part of the 507th Maintenance Company, which was ambushed near Nasiriyah after making a wrong turn during early fighting in the invasion of Iraq.

Earlier Tuesday, Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf went on national television to shore up support for Saddam's regime. He read an address said to be from the Iraqi president calling for holy war against the invaders.

"Jihad is a duty in confronting them," al-Sahhaf quoted Saddam as saying. "Those who are martyred will be rewarded in heaven. Seize the opportunity, my brothers."

Saddam's failure to appear himself raised new questions by U.S. officials about the Iraqi leaders whereabouts. Since the war started, he has been shown on television several times - including delivering two speeches - but Americans have suggested his appearances could have been taped weeks or months ago.

Al-Sahhaf read the statement as U.S. forces were reported within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of Baghdad and B-52 bombers and cruise missiles bombarded Republican Guard positions north and south of Baghdad and around Karbala.

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, speaking to reporters in Baghdad, gave a blunt reply to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud's suggestion that Saddam should step down to save his country.

"Go to hell," Ramadan said, and - addressing Saud directly - he added: "You are too much of a nothing to say a word addressed to the leader of Iraq."

Ramadan also renewed warnings that invading U.S. and British forces would be the targets of suicide bombers, saying more Arab volunteers were arriving in Iraq to carry out such attacks.

"I tell them the number of volunteers in this battle of honor has exceeded 6,000, more than half of them martyrdom-seekers, time bombs. ... You will hear their news in a few days," he said.

Lights went on this week for the first time in months in Umm Qasr and water began flowing from a pipeline in neighboring Kuwait as British and American troops tried to return normal life to the city and convince Iraqis they should cooperate with coalition forces.

In Kuwait, the first 5,000 troops of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division have arrived, and the division's assistant commander, Brig. Gen. Stephen Speakes, said the unit's 30,000 soldiers could be on the ground in Iraq "in a matter of weeks."

The Texas-based division had been expected to invade Iraq from the north, but Turkey's decision not to allow coalition forces to enter from its territory scotched that plan. Some 30 ships laden the division's forces and equipment had to make the 10-day trip from the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to the Gulf.

Warships in the Gulf have fired more than 700 Tomahawk missiles into Iraq since the war began. F/A-18 Hornet and F-14 Tomcat fighters dropped 500-pound (225-kilogram) and 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) laser-guided bombs Tuesday on an Iraqi intelligence complex in the southern city of Basra, said Lt. J.G. Nicole Kratzer, a spokeswoman for the carrier USS Kitty Hawk's air wing.

Iraqi officials have said at least 480 civilians have been killed, but have given no figure for deaths in the Iraqi military. British officials say 8,000 Iraqis have been taken prisoner.

The official casualty count for Americans stands at 46 dead, seven captured and 16 missing. Twenty-seven British soldiers, including one Tuesday, have died.

Copyright 2003 Associated Press, All rights reserved



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: baghdad; deadiraqisoldiers; diwaniyah; iraq; iraqifreedom; karbala; roadtobaghdad; sadamhussein; streettostreet

1 posted on 04/01/2003 5:51:26 PM PST by HAL9000
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To: wretchard
1st MEF we so little hear about is in the South east
2 posted on 04/01/2003 6:01:13 PM PST by Shermy
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To: HAL9000
casualty count for Americans stands at 46 dead

If that's true, that's great news. Can we believe this...?

3 posted on 04/01/2003 6:07:35 PM PST by gaijin
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To: HAL9000
Bump!
4 posted on 04/01/2003 6:08:48 PM PST by k2blader
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To: HAL9000
"8,000 Iraqis have been taken prisoner. "

How many Iraqi combatants killed?
5 posted on 04/01/2003 6:09:39 PM PST by DeuceTraveler
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To: HAL9000
Someone who is more knowledgeable about this please help me understand: Why isn't it possible to eliminate a ground force almost exclusively by air?

I know that boots on the ground are needed to take real estate and hold it, but it is amazing for someone like me, with no battlefield experience, to see the awesome display of firepower that has been unleashed on the Republican Guard divisions over the past couple of weeks at least, and then realize they are still viable enough to provide "bloody resistance" once our guys begin moving against them.

I am not questioning the strategy, mind you, I'm just wondering how you could possibly "live" through such an onslaught, then pick up your AK-47 and fight.
6 posted on 04/01/2003 6:11:40 PM PST by Illbay (Don't believe every tagline you read - including this one)
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To: Shermy
I thought the First MEU was the unit that Rick Leventhal has been reporting from all this time (on Fox News).
7 posted on 04/01/2003 6:12:17 PM PST by Illbay (Don't believe every tagline you read - including this one)
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To: DeuceTraveler
How many Iraqi combatants killed?

Not enough.

8 posted on 04/01/2003 6:14:26 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: Illbay
Maybe, but most of the focus is on the west, with the embeds.

Hey, Geraldo talking about unit sizes, deployments in the west, maybe he's part of a "sucker punch" strategy....nah, he's just an egomaniac.

9 posted on 04/01/2003 6:15:52 PM PST by Shermy
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To: DeuceTraveler
That's more than double the previous estimates (from a few days ago) of 3,000-3,500. We're making progress in every relevant way.
10 posted on 04/01/2003 6:17:26 PM PST by xm177e2 (Stalinists, Maoists, Ba'athists, Pacifists: Why are they always on the same side?)
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To: Shermy
He is, but I have become a Geraldo fan. In part, that's because I never watched him before he was on Fox News (in fact, I never watched ANY news channel, not even network news shows, before FNC) so I never developed the loathing for him that others here did who always associate him with unbridled adoration of the Clintons.

In part, it is because, showboating notwithstanding, he has been THE most fervent booster of our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, always preferring to be shown WITH them, showcasing them individually and collectively, and making them the center of attention even more than himself.

He screwed up, big-time, in this report he did that got him in hot water (and I didn't see the report which is why I couldn't figure out why the big flap was surrounding it for awhile) but I am convinced he never thought he was doing anything that would compromise operational security. Even though he must have been.

I think he's going to have to take his lumps, and next time he'll know better. But I very much appreciate the job he has done in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Keep him away from political coverage, though, and he'll be fine.
11 posted on 04/01/2003 6:28:08 PM PST by Illbay (Don't believe every tagline you read - including this one)
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To: Illbay
People have a remarkable ability to survive stuff you'd assume would kill them; look at how many people survived in leveled buildings (with no basement) in Florida in Andrew.

And even with all the aircraft we have, not every square inch is getting bombed all the time.

In unbelievable continuous air bombardment for months, and then massive Naval bombardments, in the Aleutian Islands, Iwo Jima, in World War II etc. very few Japanese soldiers were killed. Same for Monte Cassino held by German paratroopers in Italy in WWII.
12 posted on 04/01/2003 6:39:38 PM PST by John H K
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To: John H K
Neither of those obtain. The armor is being killed at a prodigious rate.

When the armor is dead, you can play duello for the IRG infantry when it fights American Mech Infantry.

If you want to make comparisons one need look back no further than GW1 where 100,000 Iraqi's surrendered after air destoyed their will to fight.

13 posted on 04/01/2003 6:46:16 PM PST by jwalsh07
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To: Illbay
I think one of the best uses of bombardment from both air and artillery is the degradation of enemy heavy weaponry. While enemy troops are extremely mobile and take cover easily, their artillery, mortars, tanks and machineguns are often left in place to be destroyed.
14 posted on 04/01/2003 6:49:31 PM PST by Ajnin
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To: John H K
Yes, I was aware that this was true in WWII as well (though I wonder how much difference larger, smarter ordnance makes).

This is very astonishing to me nevertheless.
15 posted on 04/01/2003 7:00:41 PM PST by Illbay (Don't believe every tagline you read - including this one)
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To: Ajnin
That makes sense. "Breaking their stuff" is absolutely, positively essential, no doubt.
16 posted on 04/01/2003 7:01:20 PM PST by Illbay (Don't believe every tagline you read - including this one)
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To: jwalsh07
This morning one news commentator (former Military natch) said "well, we don't want to destroy all their stuff if we can help it, because when this is over and Iraq is under new management they're going to need a military."
17 posted on 04/01/2003 7:02:30 PM PST by Illbay (Don't believe every tagline you read - including this one)
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To: Illbay
This morning one news commentator (former Military natch) said "well, we don't want to destroy all their stuff if we can help it, because when this is over and Iraq is under new management they're going to need a military."

Between Iraq and Afghanistan, if we can get a couple of democracies going, and as self-sufficient as possible, wonder what kind of impact it will have on the middle east.

18 posted on 04/01/2003 7:08:23 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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